Turkish lawmakers called on Wednesday for a military operation in northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels hiding there as Iraqi leaders stepped up a diplomatic offensive to avert any attack.

Parliament was scheduled later on Wednesday to pass a motion providing the legal basis for a cross-border incursion that the United States, Turkey's NATO ally, fears would destabilize the most peaceful part of Iraq and potentially the wider region.

"Turkey must eliminate this threat to its military, economic and diplomatic interests," opposition lawmaker Sukru Elekdag told parliament, pledging his party's support for the motion, Reuters reports.